Wing Commander III - Player’s Guide
Of Skipper Missiles And Other Common Headaches
One of the most formidable weapon systems in the Kilrathi inventory is a Skipper
missile. It possesses a tremendous warhead which enables it to destroy almost any
size ship with a single hit. This includes all of the Confed fleet carriers. If it were
a simple torpedo, it would be bad enough, but the Skipper possesses the ability to
cloak itself, decloaking only momentarily in order to maintain its lock on a target.
Although it can be blown up with normal starfighter guns (a Skipper’s EM
signature is not large enough to enable a missile lock), it’s difficult to hit
something you can’t see. Thus, it’s only really vulnerable when it’s out of cloak.
Thankfully the missile is not as fast as others in the Kilrathi inventory and this
enables most starfighters to overtake it using afterburners.
Taking out a Skipper missile is difficult, but not impossible. In order to ensure the
ability to overtake it, a light or medium interceptor should be used. On full
afterburn, a light fighter is easily twice as fast as a Skipper, and this allows the
pilot to engage the missile before it reaches its target. The Skipper is a large
missile, and can only be launched by Kilrathi capital ships. This is helpful since
you can disregard other targets and close on the launcher vessel, perhaps even
destroying it before it gets a Skipper off. If you cannot destroy the launcher vessel
in time, you should still be close enough to the Skipper to destroy it before it hits
home. Keep a sharp eye on the radar for missile launches (yellow dots), since it
may be your first indication of a new Skipper.
Ship Selection
Providing you don’t blow her out in the love stakes, Rachel the mechanic is happy
to provide you with a default ship and weapons payload for each mission.
However, it’s worth checking out the loadout terminal yourself prior to flying, just
to double-check her selection. Her defaults are not always ideal - on a mission
involving battles with Kilrathi capital ships, for instance, the heavily-armoured
Longbow, with its devastating selection of missiles and torpedoes, is what’s
required to do the job. Bear in mind, however, that it is a sluggish ship and is
easily outflown by, say, a Vaktoth or Sorthak class fighter. In straight dogfighting
scenarios (which normally emerge from patrol missions), the best choice is the
very nippy and manoeuvrable Arrow.
Fighters vs Capital Ships
Like the Confederation, the Kilrathi’s fighter craft are incapable of extended
operations in space. As a result, for deep space campaigns they operate from a
mother craft. All Kilrathi ships of destroyer size or larger contain hangar bays for
the storage, re-arming and resupply of Kilrathi starfighters. If you ever encounter
a squadron of Kilrathi fighters in the company of a capital ship, attempt to destroy
the cap ship first. This will keep it from launching additional waves of fighters
after the existing waves are destroyed.
The removal of the extremely power-hungry and inefficient Ôphase shields’
means that cap ships can once again be destroyed by fighter-class weapons, but
the Kilrathi have countered this by adding more armour and gun turrets. These
changes have forced pilots to modify their tactics somewhat. One method to
attack a heavy ship is to pick the least defended side (normally the rear), and clear
it of gun turrets. After a side of a cap ship has been stripped of protection,
repeated attacks on that side usually yield spectacular results.
Another attack method is available when flying the Arrow and the Excalibur. The
pilot will need to set a course which will intercept the cap ship’s course, yet not
collide. After this is done, increase speed and activate the slide function. The
starfighter becomes a floating gun turret and can provide a stable firing platform
while throwing off any enemy gunner’s aim. After repeated runs, the ships armour
will be melted away to nothing. Both methods are made much more difficult by
the presence of enemy fighters.
Morale
As the commander of a Confed starfighter wing, the Wing Commander is
responsible not only for success in the field, but for maintaining the morale of the
pilots under his command. The way a commander interacts with his personnel will
affect the way they think of him, and the way they perform in the field. The
wingco must also understand the way his subordinates think, since not all
personalities are the same. Some personnel fly well after a kind word, but not
everyone responds to the same treatment. Still, success in the field will have a
profound effect on the ship’s morale, as will personal sacrifice.
While conversing with characters on board the TCS Victory, bear in mind that it’s
possible to Ôcheat’ - if what you say seems to have a bad effect on the outcome of
the conversation, simply play the scene again and try out the other choice. Not
really in the spirit of things, but advisable if you’re dead set on winning. And who
isn’t?
